THURSDAY PICKUP THIS WEEK

Hopefully you’ve got your calendar marked for next Thursday, December 7, 2017 for this year’s Open House and Old Fashioned Christmas at Dothan Nurseries.

One of the values we hold dear is that our customers and growers know each other. Much of what we do almost seems non-personal as so much takes place online. We are so THANKFUL for our webmaster who started the Locally Grown system many years ago, but the REAL transacting is what takes place in real life – real farmers providing real, sustainable food to real people. The Open House events we participate in twice a year with Dothan Nurseries is a way to keep that face to face, person to person relationship alive and thriving. We want that because YOU are important and we want to serve you well.

That being said – Order Pickups take place this THURSDAY from 2 -3 pm in our regular spot. It has been set to this time because of the heavy traffic that will begin around 3pm when the carolers start singing and Dothan Nurseries starts serving up finger foods and punch. We don’t want our regular customers to be inconvenienced by having to park far away or have to deal with the many vehicles that will be coming through next to our location with the refrigerators.

There will be no Daleville Deliveries this week.

Right now the weather forecast is agreeable and our vendors are looking forward to seeing you and getting to know you better. We hope you’ll make plans to come and spend a little time hanging out with us and enjoying the prettiest place in Dothan at the Nursery!

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

We don’t want you to be caught unprepared! Market at Dothan will be closed two weeks starting December 23. Below is our schedule for the remainder of the year and the beginning of 2018. Our hope and prayer is that each of you make blessed and peaceful memories during this season and are filled the knowledge that you are greatly loved.

MARKET CHITCHAT

Just wanted to send a hearty THANK YOU to the customers who hung out with us yesterday as we awaited the arrival of the last of the vegetables. We appreciate your patience and it was fun getting to know you a bit better!

Please note that Meyer Lemons have been added this week from a new grower called “Seasonal”. All kidding aside, for some time we’ve needed a listing for those individuals who meet our guidelines and only offer one crop per year (like the bulk blueberries in 2016). We’re happy to welcome T.L. and his great citrus products.

And we need your help – we need a name. Every week your editor cringes and struggles with the cumbersome phrase “Pickup Location” when there’s got to be something better to call the super cute area where our growers deliver and you come to get your orders every week. If you’ve got a suggestion email it to marketatdothan@gmail.com. We’ll run it by a panel of vendors and give a $5 credit to the person whose title is chosen.

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

We have the best Growers in the Wiregrass! Please learn more about them on our Grower Page.

AVALON FARMS: Looking forward to seeing everyone Thursday at the Christmas Open House. The weatherman says it’s going to be cold so break out those Christmas sweaters!! We’ll be offering samples of our jams as I’m sure others will be too!  So come on out and snack your way around the market.

Wanted to talk to you about the sugar snap peas. They will be available thru the market at least this next week. If it freezes this week (that weatherman again) I’m not sure what the impact will be on the baby peas. BUT the good news is if you keep them in the  refrigerator, sealed up they will keep fresh for a couple weeks. So buy lots while they are available! LOL

Picture notes: As you can see, the sugar snap peas are grown on a trellis to keep them off the ground. The material I am using is a plastic 6 × 6 inch mess. I used the same piece in the spring and hope to use it again next spring and beyond. Reusing it multiple times makes is affordable and sustainable. Keeping the pea vines off the ground makes for a more and better crop. Plus saves my back a little.

BAIN HOME GARDENS: Hey there market friends,
This week we want to share a family milestone. WE CANNED FOR THE FIRST TIME! Seems like such a simple thing but it’s honestly something I have been afraid of for a while. However, our family managed to end up with bunches of tangerines and had no idea what to do with them. After browsing the internet, I found a recipe on canning mandarin oranges which was interchangeable for basically any citrus. So we decided to give it a try. It was lots of fun and a family effort. The cans are still sitting on the counter for now just because seeing them makes me smile.

As we become more experienced with this new venture, we look forward to sharing and getting your feedback, & exchanging recipes & techniques. It’s a learning process and learning new things and ideas is one way we will continue to bring a quality product from our family to yours! Till next week…

FOOTNOTES

We would love to hear from you! If you have a favorite recipe, want to write a product review, have an idea or request for an article or information, let us know! You can reply to this newsletter or write marketatdothan@gmail.com.

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!